In Sports News this Monday: cyclist Roman Kreuziger finishes third in the Tour de Suisse; the Boston Bruins, with Jaromír Jágr, even their series against Chicago in the Stanley Cup final; the Czech women’s basketball team declasses Lithuania to qualify for the knock-out stages at the European Championships; and football legend Josef Masopust returns to site of a Czechoslovak win over Brazil 57 years ago.
Cycling: Kreuziger comes third in Tour de Suisse
Roman Kreuziger, Rui Costa, Bauke Mollema, photo: CTK
Czech cyclist Roman Kreuziger at the weekend reached the podium at this year’s Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland), finishing third. Dutch rider Bauke Mollema came in second and this year’s winner was Rui Costa of Portugal. It is the third time Kreuziger, who races for Team Saxo-Tinkoff, has finished in the top three in the tour: he came first in 2008 and 3rd in 2010. The Tour de Suisse precedes the most famous bike race on the planet, the Tour de France, where Kreuziger twice finished in the Top 10.
Bruins square series with Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks - Boston Bruins, photo: CTK
The Stanley Cup final continued at the weekend between hockey’s Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins: it turned out to be another nail-biter that was only decided in overtime. Chicago drew first blood, scoring in the first period. Boston tied it in the second and 1:1 it remained until overtime when Paille scored for Boston. Moments before, the Bruins’ Jaromír Jágr rang a shot off the post. The snake-bitten future hall-of-famer, who has not scored in this year’s post-season, told Czech TV he hoped things change soon but made clear even if they didn’t what was important that the team a whole was successful. The win leaves the series squared at one-apiece. Game 3 takes place in Boston on Monday.
Women’s basketball team downs Lithuania
The Czech women’s basketball team during the training, photo: CTK
A day after losing to Belarus, the women’s basketball team rebounded on Sunday by soundly defeating opponents Lithuania at the European Championships underway in France. The final score was 70:51. The win for the Czech squad (and a second defeat for Lithuania) means the Czechs will advance to the knock-out stages, whether or not they defeat Croatia in their final group stage match.
Football: Masopust returns to Maracana stadium – site of Czechoslovak victory over Brazil, 57 years on
Josef Masopust, photo: Jan Kaliba
Eighty-two-year-old Czech football legend Josef Masopust returned to the famous Maracana open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro this week, the site of Czechoslovakia’s victory over Brazil in a friendly 57 years ago, as well as being one of the venues in this year’s Confederations Cup. In the match, held in August of 1956, Masopust sent the ball to Anton Moravčík who scored the game’s lone goal in what was then Brazil’s second loss at the famous stadium. Here’s how the player remembers the match:
“I have to admit I still remember the game very well and we still talk about it because Brazil was and is considered the best team in the world. That, and the history of the Maracana, made this an unforgettable experience.”
